BBC lands radio rights to Usyk-Bellew title fight

The BBC, the UK public-service broadcaster, has secured exclusive radio rights in the country to this weekend's cruiserweight world title fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tony Bellew.

Ukraine's Usyk, who holds all four recognised belts at cruiserweight, takes on England's Bellew at Manchester Arena on 10 November, and live commentary will be offered on BBC Radio 5 Live.

The radio rights deal has been struck with Matchroom Boxing, the UK promoter that has both boxers in its portfolio.

Ben Gallop, head of BBC Radio Sport and Digital, said: “We are committed to bringing our listeners the biggest fights and with exclusive coverage on BBC Radio 5 live and the BBC Sport website, boxing fans won’t miss a moment of the action.”

Sky, the pay-TV broadcaster, will air the fight in the UK on its Sky Sports Box Office pay-per-view channel.

Rival radio station TalkSport recently carried exclusive UK commentary of British boxers Anthony Joshua and Amir Khan's latest fights in deals with Matchroom.